Once upon a time
by InaZumaElle
Summary: AU. Knight Hiroto, prince of Alia, searches desperately for his missing twin sister who was kidnapped together with Endou Mamoru, prince of Inazuma 12 years ago. The two countries are at war, and Hiroto has to stop the war, and find his twin sister before it's too late. Will he succeed?
1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time there was a knight. There were many knights, actually. But this story is about one knight in particular. This knight was very special. His name was Kiyama Hiroto. While all the other knights worked for the king or the prince, this knight worked for the king of another country. That country was in war with Inazuma, the town Hiroto lived in. Hiroto hated the war. He hated being a knight. He didn't _want_ to fight! But he had no choice. Because Hiroto had a sister. A twin sister, to be exact. Her name was Mayelle, but went by the name of Elle. When Hiroto was 3, Elle was kidnapped. And so was the prince of Inazuma, Endou Mamoru. Hiroto had no idea where his sister was, or how she was doing, and he missed her terribly. It was 12 years since she was kidnapped, and Hiroto had lost hope of ever finding his sister again. So had his father, the king of Alia, the country that Inazuma was in war with. Hiroto sighed as he walked through the alleyways, pulling his hood up against the rain. His father was livid that his daughter was never found. Endou, prince of Inazuma, HAD been found. His father suspects them of keeping his daughter somewhere, as revenge, because Alia and Inazuma always had been rivals. Hiroto shook his head. He couldn't believe that they would be so cruel. Inazuma was a very peaceful town, the king and queen where nice and generous people, always fighting to solve the poverty Inazuma the best they could. But Hiroto really wanted to find his sister. He would do whatever it took, no matter how improbable it was, he would check it out. He took a deep breath as he neared the castle. Skillfully he dodged all the guards till he reached the secret entrance to the palace. Endou, he knew, was now in a secluded area, studying. They wouldn't check on him until at least an hour later. Hiroto nodded to himself and made his way trough the castle, never once being spotted. He stopped when he was in front of a huge wooden door. He put his hand on the opener, and hesitated. A imagine of his sister flew into his mind, and he opened the door. The first thing he saw in the huge room was a desk, and a boy sitting behind it, with his back to Hiroto, hunched over a book. He turned around in his chair, looking surprised. Hiroto stared at him, his eyes narrowed with determination.  
"H-hello. Can I help you?" Endou asked, eyeing the boy nervously.

"Yes." Hiroto said, stepping towards the boy. "I want you to tell me what you know about my sister."

"Your…sister?" Endou asked, not comprending it.

"My sister, Kiyama Mayelle. She was kidnapped by the same felony as you." Endou's eyes widened.  
"O-oh…" He looked away.

"What 'oh'?!" Hiroto said, raising his voice, stepping closer to Endou, who's back hit the wall. He looked terrified.

"I- I don't know! She was alive when I last saw her! But then I fell asleep and when I woke up I was rescued! I thought she was safe! My parents said she was!" Endou said, his voice panicked and scared. Hiroto nodded and stormed out. He wasn't thinking clearly. Endou's parents said she's safe. So they know where she is! He stormed into the room, the king and queen looking at him, shocked. The guards stepped towards him, seeing how angry he looked, but the king, Endou Hiroshi, held up his hand and the guards stood still.

"Is there something you need?" Hiroshi asked, his voice kind and warm. Hiroto swallowed, feeling tears gather in his eyes, but he blinked them away.

"My sister." He said bravely, ignoring the break in his voice. "Kiyama Mayelle. Where is she? Your son said that you told him she was safe! WHERE IS SHE?!" Their eyes widened in shock at his raised voice, but then comprehension dawned.

"Take a seat." The queen, Endou Atsuko, said calmly. Hiroto hesitated, but nodded and said down.

"We don't know of your sister's whereabouts." Atsuko started. Hiroto opened his mouth to protests, but she held up her hand and he snapped his mouth shut. "We told Mamoru that she was safe, yes, but that was a lie. When the sheriff found out where your sister and my son where, all the knights went to that building. When we arrived, your sister and the one that kidnapped them where already gone. You have to understand, we tried to find your sister. We're still trying. But it's like he never excised. He didn't leave a single trace. Yes, we told Mamoru that she's safe, but we didn't have a choice. When he woke up and he realized he was home, she was the first thing he asked about. We couldn't tell him that the girl who became his best friend was unsafe. He would've been broken up about it. And we could hardly tell him that his kidnapper was still running around somewhere. He feels unsafe enough as it is! I'm really sorry about your sister, Hiroto. I really am. But I don't know where she is. And the chance that she's safe… It's very unlikely."Atsuko looked away, her brown eyes filling with tears.

"W-what do you mean?" Hiroto asked, eyes wide. He swallowed. "If I may ask… in what condition was your son when you found him?" Atsuko shook her head. "N-not good. Not good at all. He nearly died. He did die, once. His heart stopped, but they managed to get it beating again. I'm really sorry. I'm really really sorry."

"Did- did you ask your son about… about what they did to them?" Hiroshi and Atsuko shook their heads.

"No. We couldn't. At first he was too out of it, going in and out of consciousness, barely lucid. When he got better, we didn't want to set him back in his recovery. He was so traumatized at first. Nightmares, panic attacks, flashbacks, mood changing, bursting in tears for no reason at all…. By the time he was lucid enough to answer questions, all of these symptoms happened less and less. We were scared that we would set back his recovery, he was finally getting better; both emotionally and physically. We just couldn't." Hiroto nodded. Trauma. It was bad enough for trauma's. And that was after 2 years. His sister was with that monster for 12 years. He stopped. Wait. Who says she's still with that monster? The queen said that she had everyone search for him. He needed to hide. He would draw way too much attention to himself if he walked around with the princess of Alia, injured. Everyone in the country knew about her kidnapping. So what if he dumped her? In another country, maybe. One where they didn't know about the kidnapping. What if he dumped her there, and they took care of her? Gave her a new family? That's a possibility.

"I'm sorry. For everything." Hiroto apologized. The queen shook her head, a small smile on her lips.  
"It's okay. We get what you're going trough. We would've done everything to find our son too." Hiroto nodded at her, thankful. He walked out of the castle, and went to report to his Father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's another chapter! This is not beta-ed, and since it's late here and I'm really tired, there probably are a lot of mistakes. All those mistakes are mine. Talking about what's mine… Kidou?**

**Kidou: inazumaelle doesn't own Inazuma Eleven, or it's characters. Elle does belong to her, since it's her OC. She makes no profit out of this, she just has too much free time, no real life friends and nothing better to do.**

**Elle: HEY! *thwacks Kidou on head with leek stick* no improvising! Anyway, again, for all the lawyers out there *stares at crowd with suits and briefcases nervously* I DON'T own Inazuma Eleven. I really don't *pouts* unfortunately not. *lawyers walk away disappointedly* **

**Kidou: *mumbling* thank goodness**

**Elle: *hits Kidou again* What do you mean, thank goodness I don't own IE? *glares at Kidou* **

**Kidou: *glances around nervously* let's just start with the chapter. **

Somewhere, in a dark room, a girl was sitting on a windowsill, staring at the sunset. She sighed, bored out of her mind. She heard footsteps nearing the room she was in, and tensed. The door opened and Elle stared anxiously at the man in the door opening. He inspected the room, before his cold and calculating eyes landed on her. She met his eyes defiantly, not backing down. He nodded at her and left the room. She sighed in relief and sagged against the window behind her, her muscles relaxing. She felt her heartbeat calming down to its normal pace. Elle shuddered. Just a normal checkup, thank goodness. Wanted to see whether she was still there. He didn't trust the guards to do it. Elle bit her lip, fingers tracing the small scars on her arm. She received those when he didn't come for just a checkup. Elle closed her eyes, willing herself to be stronger, braver, _better._She had to be strong. She couldn't break. Somewhere, her brother was looking for her. She just knew it. If she gave up now, her body would soon follow. It would stop fighting. She didn't want to hurt her brother like that. If someone ever found her and rescued her, she wanted to be alive. Responsive. Not just a catatonic shell. Also, she really wanted to see Mamoru again. She worried about him. Wondered if he was still alive, if he was happy. If he was traumatized. Gosh, she hoped not. She was happy he was rescued. Yeah, she was lonely and upset that she was still here, that she wasn't reunited with her family a long time ago. How long has it been? How long since she was captured, and how long since Mamoru was rescued? She didn't remember much from that night. She remembered _**Him**_, ordering guards to pick her up. Being carried into… something. She didn't know exactly what. She couldn't see very well; her head pressed against the guard's back. Raising her head was exhausting, and she just didn't have the energy to do so. She remembered moving, landscaped flashing by. She remembered feeling tired and closing her eyes. When she opened them again, she was in the same room she was in now. It hadn't taken long to figure out what happened. Especially since _**He**___had come that night, fury in his eyes. He had beat her, yelling about Endou being rescued and that that wasn't supposed to happen. Something about hoping she was comfy in her new room, since she was going to stay here for a long, long time. Then she must have passed out. She was so happy that Mamoru wasn't going to endure this torture anymore. That he could go back to his family. Elle smiled, sadness in her eyes. She wished she was with him. She missed talking to him, to have his comforting presence. Comforting him when he was upset made her feel better, like she was doing something to help. It gave her something to focus on besides her own pain. When she finally got him to smile when he was upset again, it was the best feeling in the world. Of course, that didn't say much since her world consisted of pain, fear and misery since she was abducted. But still. Mamoru had the most beautiful smile. It lit up the room, gave Elle hope and made her feel happy. It was infectious. So yeah, she really missed Mamoru. And sometimes, just sometimes, when she was in so much pain and just wanted it to end… Then she was selfish enough to wish that Endou was still with her. She always felt guilty after thinking it. She didn't even mean it. Endou deserved to be happy and free. And see Endou going through this torture would make her feel even worse. It wouldn't make up for the absence of the crushing loneliness that hit her sometimes. Elle sighed, and closed her eyes, hoping that someone would rescue her soon, because she didn't think that she could take this any longer.

-IE-

Endou was sitting in his room, behind his desk, staring at the books in front of him but not actually seeing anything. He was deep in thought. Elle… She wasn't safe? She was missing? Her brother thought that Endou knows where she is, but he doesn't. He wished he did. She had become the most important thing in his world when they were both captured. Endou could always count on her to path his wounds up the best she could, to sooth him and to make him laugh. The two of them talked for hours, just to make the time pass, to forget about their pain and misery and freight. Sometimes just to hear each other's voice and know that they weren't alone. Endou had come to associate her with safety and happiness, but his parents didn't believe that. They thought that seeing her would have a negative influence on him, bring him back to the darkest time in his life, to the time of being desperate and terrified and in pain. But, strangely enough, that wasn't true. When he thought about Elle, he didn't feel those things, or thought about those things. He thought about her smile and the way her eyes sparkled with laughter and happiness, about how she knew exactly what to say to make him smile or laugh, how to distract him from negative feelings. Maybe his parent's didn't actually think that seeing her would be bad for him. Maybe they just didn't know where she was. Maybe… Endou felt sick. Maybe she had never come home. Maybe she was still with that _monster_. Endou's eyes filled with tears, but he blinked them away. That couldn't be. It just _couldn't_. But Endou had to know for sure. He couldn't ask his parents. They wouldn't be truthful with him. They wanted to protect him. But Endou wanted the truth. Because the truth couldn't be more painful than not knowing whether his best friend in the whole world was okay. He rather had the painful truth than a comforting lie.

-IE-

Hiroto was desperate. He was desperate and angry and _scared_. Scared that his baby sister was somewhere, in pain, lonely and scared. Scared that he might never see her again. Scared that he couldn't convince his father that it wasn't Inazuma's fault that his daughter was missing, maybe even death. Scared that his father was never going to stop the war. Scared that more innocent people get harmed because of the war. He shook his head, as if to get rid of the depressing thoughts flying through his head like a swarm of bees. He should focus. Worrying wasn't going to get his sister back.

'_Nothing might get her back' _a traitorous voice in the back of his mind whispered, but Hiroto ignored it, inwardly glaring at the voice.

"What are you doing?" A voice near him asked, startling Hiroto.

"W-What?" He asked, confused and slightly disoriented. He looked up. In the tree above him was sitting a friend of him, Midorikawa. "You're glaring." Midorikawa said.  
"I-I'm not!" Hiroto protested. Midorikawa giggled. "Yes you are." He said. "What did oxygen ever do to you?" Hiroto rolled his eyes.

"I'm just thinking." He said, his voice sharp.

"Okay, okay. I didn't mean to insult you. Geez, what's with you today?" Midorikawa asked. Hiroto just glared at him and walked away. He heard the sounds of feet hitting the ground, knowing that it was Midorikawa who skillfully jumped from the tree branch he was sitting on. He huffed and started walking faster. He really didn't want to talk with Midorikawa right now. He didn't want to snap at him, and he knew that was going to happen when Midorikawa starts prying. And knowing Midorikawa, he _will_ start prying. He walked faster, but the footsteps behind him fastened too.

"Hiroto, wait!" Midorikawa called out. "I'm sorry!"

Hiroto sighed and stopped walking. "Listen, I really don't want to talk to you right now." He said, turning to face Midorikawa. "I don't want to talk to anyone. I want to be left alone."

"Why?' Midorikawa asked, confusion and concern in both his eyes and voice.

"It's about my sister." Hiroto said with a sigh. "I really don't want to talk about it." Midorikawa looked shocked. "O-oh." He mumbled. "I-I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone. If you want to talk, you can always come to me. You know that, right?" Hiroto nodded, a small smile on his face.

"I know. Thanks, Ryuuji-kun." Midorikawa smiled at him.

"You're welcome." Midorikawa said, still smiling. Then he walked away, making Hiroto sigh with relief. He was glad that Midorikawa understood. He really didn't want to hurt the greenette who he thought of as a brother. He just couldn't talk about his sister. It hurt too much. He also didn't think that people would understand. That they were going to say things that Hiroto didn't want to hear. Things that deep down, he knew could be a possibility, but he tried so hard to fight that inner voice. He didn't want a real person to say it too. Yes, Hiroto knew that his sister could be…death." Hiroto swallowed, a tight sensation in his chest. He knew that she could be terribly injured. He knew that the chances of ever finding her are unlikely. He knew that it was nearly impossible for him to stop the war alone. But that didn't mean he couldn't try. That didn't mean he couldn't hope for the best. That didn't mean that he should lock himself inside a room and wallow in self-pity and misery. It didn't matter how high his chances are. No matter how small the chance, it was still a chance. It was_ nearly_ impossible, but it wasn't impossible. He could at least try. He owed it to his sister. He owed it to his country. He owed it to all the people that suffered from the war. If he failed, he could at least tell himself that he tried. That he did the best he could. That he give it his all. Someone once told him that people regret the things they didn't do more than the stupid things they did do. And Hiroto didn't want to have any regrets where his sister was concerned. Now, what to do next… The sheriff station. They might have their theories about who abducted his sister. Hiroto nodded, his eyes alight with determination, and hurried to the sheriff station


End file.
